Huawei Lands 1-Gig Gig

China-based tech giant Huawei said it has landed a deal to support a 1-Gig service from Eastern Oregon Telecom (EOT) that will support more than 8,000 homes in Hermiston and the surrounding area, including Umatilla, Irrigon and Boardman.

The fiber-to-the-premises network will be based on GPON and layer in VoIP and IP-based TV services.

EOT expects to complete initial deployments in the second half of 2015, with underground fiber rollouts set for sometime in 2016.

“Huawei’s fast and scalable broadband solutions will allow for faster deployment and simpler maintenance, and we look forward to working with them to roll out our ultra-broadband network in Hermiston,” said Joseph Franell, CEO of EOT, in a statement.

“Super-fast, reliable and affordable broadband connectivity is becoming increasingly important in helping our community and businesses stay competitive,” added Hermiston Mayor Dr. David Drotzmann. “We are pleased that Eastern Oregon Telecom and Huawei have partnered to bring this service to the community, and believe better broadband will help us create more economic opportunities and educational enhancements in the City of Hermiston.”

The deployment serves as a nice domestic win for Huawei, which has been a magnet of controversy in the U.S., including mistrust by the U.S. government. Last year, a report from Der Spiegel claimed that the National Security Agency had established “back doors” that linked it to telecom networks managed and maintained by Huawei. That report surfaced about 18 months after the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence recommended that U.S. telecom providers not work with Huawei and fellow China-based supplier ZTE over concerns that they could be national security threats.

On the cable front, Huawei and ZTE, the other China-based vendor that has drawn similar attention from the U.S. government, have pushed ahead on the developed EPON equipment that applies DOCSIS-style provisioning. Last June, Huawei and ZTE were among an initial batch of vendors that obtained qualification for equipment that adheres to the CableLabs specs for DOCSIS Provisioning of EPON (DPoE).